Tacugama
Sierra Leone · 8.40°N · 13.16°W
rescuing Sierra Leone's chimpanzees while protecting the forests and communities that surround them
About Tacugama
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary rescues and rehabilitates Sierra Leone's endangered chimpanzees and works to protect the forests and communities they depend on.
Western chimpanzees are endangered, and in Sierra Leone they are squeezed by the illegal wildlife and bushmeat trades, habitat loss and growing conflict with people. Many of the animals that reach the sanctuary arrive as orphans, the survivors of these pressures. Protecting them means tackling the systems that put them in danger in the first place.
Founded in 1995 by Bala and Sharmila Amarasekaran, Tacugama sits within the Western Area Peninsula National Park on the edge of Freetown. It began with a single rescued chimp and has grown into one of the country's leading conservation organisations, employing a substantial local team and combining animal care with community work, research and law enforcement support.
Around a hundred chimpanzees move through a staged rehabilitation process, from quarantine towards large forested enclosures. Beyond the sanctuary, outreach programmes link conservation with real benefits and education for rural communities, schools across the area learn about the environment, and eco-tourism through forest lodges and tours channels income back into the work.
Tacugama is often described as more than just chimpanzees, and that captures its philosophy: you cannot save a species without the people and forests around it. Support sustains lifelong care for rescued animals and the wider effort to keep Sierra Leone's wild places standing.
Chimpanzee rescue
taking in, rehabilitating and caring for western chimpanzees saved from the illegal trade
Community conservation
partnering with nearby villages so people and wildlife can thrive side by side
Environmental education
teaching schools and communities why chimps and their forest habitat are worth protecting
Field research
chimpanzee censuses and camera-trap surveys that track wild populations and guide protection
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